Chapter 34 Ace
Ace
I'm hard at work when I get a phone call. I don't recognize the number, but I answer anyway. My life is too chaotic right now to chance missing a phone call.
"This is Ace.
“How you doin’, man? This is Rashad. I’m Raya’s brother.”
Oh, shit. I'd forgotten all about my conversation with Tori. Raya's little note wiped about twenty-four hours from my short-term memory.
“Okay, yeah. Good to meet you.”
“Yeah, you, too." He clears his throat. "My aunt said you wanted to talk.”
“Not really. I know you’ve been calling Raya, so I figured I’d gauge if the conversation is worth you bothering her.”
“Okay. Damn. It’s like that?”
“Yep. What’s on your mind?”
It takes him a while to answer. The silence feels unbearable to me given the fact that I'm at work, but something tells me to wait. And then he drops the bomb.
“Basically…I’m on my way out. I got terminal cancer.”
“Fuck. I’m sorry to hear that, man. How long?”
“Months. Maybe a year. It’s not looking good, so, you know, I’m just taking it day by day.”
“That’s understandable.”
He blows out a sigh. “I figured I need to make amends with people before I go. My doctor told me to do that for them so they don’t feel guilty or regretful.”
Despite the seriousness of the conversation, that makes me smile. “You honestly think Raya would feel either of those things?”
He chuckles. “So she ain’t changed, huh?”
“Nope.” I sit back in my chair. “Lemme ask you something, man. Why didn’t you believe her?”
“Oh she told you about that.”
“Of course. And I’m asking because I got sisters, too. They get on my damn nerves sometimes, but if I ever found out somebody was hurting them, I’d gladly go to jail for the rest of my life. But you called your sister a liar and believed her abuser over her.”
“Well…no offense, and I’m sure you’re probably aware of this, but Raya is a liar.”
Got me there.
“If that girl told me the sky was blue, I’d look up to check. But even past that, I was young. Older than her, but young. I didn’t know who or what to believe. My mama had left, my sister was acting weird, and I just…didn’t know how to process it.”
“Didn’t you at least wanna investigate?”
Rashad is quiet again before saying, “I regret that I didn’t.”
“Well, look. I’ll run it past her, but I don’t want you to get your hopes up.”
"I appreciate it. And it's fine if she says no. I just didn't want her to not have the chance."
"I got you."
After we hang up, I sit and stare at the wall for a while. This is some heavy shit, on top of everything else.
Before I get back to work, I pick my phone back up and text my sisters.
Hey. I love y'all.